


sweet music playing in the dark

by probablyacryptid



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Fluff, Nightmares, Other, dancing in the kitchen, i wrote this at one-thirty in the morning while Yearning and it shows, neither juno nor nureyev are very good at dancing change my mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28186101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablyacryptid/pseuds/probablyacryptid
Summary: It's late at night, and Juno Steel can't sleep. He's been lying awake beside Nureyev for hours, but the nightmares have shocked him awake too many nights in a row for him to want to even try to sleep tonight. He should sleep. Needs to sleep. Buddy's got a briefing planned for tomorrow, and Vespa has all-too-kindly reminded him that she's not going to save his ass during the job if he's too goddamn tired to pay attention. He squeezes his eyes shut again in some futile attempt at rest, but they jerk back open moments later, and he... gives up.--It's literally just some quick fluff for all you dancing in the kitchen fans xx
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	sweet music playing in the dark

It's late at night, and Juno can't sleep. He's been lying awake beside Nureyev for hours, but the nightmares have shocked him awake too many nights in a row for him to want to even try to sleep tonight. He should sleep. Needs to sleep. Buddy's got a briefing planned for tomorrow, and Vespa has all-too-kindly reminded him that she's not going to save his ass during the job if he's too goddamn tired to pay attention. He squeezes his eyes shut again in some futile attempt at rest, but they jerk back open moments later, and he... gives up.

He moves quietly, careful not to wake the man snoring gently beside him. Nureyev's asleep, Juno's almost sure. His breathing's been slow for the better part of the last hour and he looks as peaceful as ever. 

There's nothing keeping him awake. 

He makes his way to the kitchen, the room with the best window view on the Carte Blanche- As good as the view can be in the middle of space. It all looks the same to the former detective, anyway.

The radio is still on from dinner- Rita must have left it that way, tuned in to a station from the nearest planet, and he leaves it at a low volume, leaning against the kitchen sink and staring out the window at the endless black, catching a star here and there. A song is playing softly, cutting through the darkness as some long-dead man sings out his feelings, but it feels… Hollow. Juno can't really put his finger on what the problem is, but it’s not making him feel any less floundering and alone.

And then, Peter Nureyev enters from behind him and the light returns, more stars appearing as the ship shifts and letting a gentle brightness back in through the window. Juno hadn't meant to wake him up. There's a knot forming in his stomach, and he turns to say something, maybe an apology, maybe an excuse, and then Nureyev gently rests his arms around his neck, and suddenly he's less empty than he was moments before.

"Are you coming back to bed, dear?" The thief asks, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the gentle radio, and Juno hesitates before shaking his head. 

"No, Nureyev. It's… You should go. Get some rest before tomorrow." He doesn't want Nureyev to leave, but he knows if he goes back to bed now he won't do anything but keep him awake, tossing and turning beside him all night. It's not worth it. Juno's not worth it.

Nureyev says nothing for a moment, as if thinking, and he rests his head against Juno's. He keeps his arms around his neck for a few quiet moments before he graciously breaks the silence, pressing his lips to the tender spot beside Juno's ear and whispering sweet nothings loud enough for the world to hear, and his world only consists of the lady in the kitchen with him. Though Juno has never been all that good with any language other than his own, he catches a word of Brahman here and there. He leans into Nureyev, hesitantly as first, and then all at once, when he feels the thief's smile wash away his worries.

The radio's still on, and the song has switched to something more sweet but no less sappy. Then suddenly, Nureyev is swaying to the music, taking Juno along with him as he rocks back and forth. The almost-dance is cheesy, it makes Juno feel like a teenager again, like he's at an awkward school dance back in Hyperion, shifting around the room with his 'date' and trying desperately to look cool.

But there's nobody to look cool for here. It's just Juno and Nureyev.

And so they sway. The private eye and his master thief sway like that for what could be minutes or what could be hours, and once or twice they even spin each other. They're uncoordinated and messy, as clumsy as children learning to walk, or worse, as they stumble across the kitchen on feet made of lead and Nureyev almost steers Juno into a table or the two narrowly avoid knocking over a chair, but it's the lightest Juno has ever felt.

And Nureyev is in his ear again, murmuring the lyrics of the song on the radio as gently as ever, though his voice is still raspy from sleep. Juno doesn't mind. He'd freeze this moment forever if he could. Keep both of them in each others' arms, disheveled from lack of sleep and exhausted beyond belief, but clinging to the comfort the other is giving and the words flowing from the radio nonetheless.

In a few hours Vespa might stumble upon the two of them, ever the early riser that she is, and she'll probably make a face and get her coffee, and she probably won't let them hear the end of it for a long time.

But right now, Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev are in each other's arms, swaying around the kitchen of the Carte Blanche as clumsily as a few kids, unaware of everything but each other and the quiet music on the raspy old radio, and there's no place they'd rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! This is my first go at fanfiction like... Ever, AND I wrote this in the middle of the night so it might not be my best work ever but any feedback is SUPER appreciated :) I might write more if I'm feeling particularly inspired so?? Stay tuned. Thanks 4 reading much love xoxo


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